Do Justice - Already and Not Yethttp://dojustice.crcna.org/categories/already-and-not-yet
Reflect on our role in God's restorative work, and recognize both renewal and continued brokenness. Be encouraged by stories of challenges and successes in the pursuit of shalom.
enLeading and Longinghttp://dojustice.crcna.org/article/leading-and-longing
<div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="textformatter-list"><a href="/author/eric-nykamp" class="node node-890 node-bio node-reference">Eric Nykamp</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>Like most Sundays, I’m at the piano leading my congregation in worship. The lights are lowered in the gym-turned-sanctuary where we worship.</p>
<blockquote><h5>Like most Sundays, I’m at the piano leading my congregation in worship.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s Advent, and I haven’t been able to push the image out of my mind of Mary and Joseph fleeing for their lives to Egypt as refugees. I imagine what stress and hardships brown-skinned Mary and Joseph felt fleeing King Herod’s murderous impulses. It wasn’t the first time they were on the road and urgently looking for a place to stay, but it seemed that every time they were in desperate need of emergency housing, it was because of their son.</p>
<p>It’s been on my mind all week because last Sunday while I was leading worship, fellow Christian refugees on the border of my country were being sprayed with tear-gas to try to prevent them from legally requesting protection from the death-clouds looming on the horizons of<em> their</em> native lands. Instead, our country was breaking our own laws, based on suspicions and rumors, and not allowing families like María, José, and their son Jesús to safely cross the border to make their request for protection.</p>
<p>Instead, they were greeted by a military force acting as if they were trying to disperse an unlawfully-assembled crowd, instead of offering to help process the many people legally requesting asylum. These tear-gas grenades were fired at the migrants during our worship time. I couldn’t cry out to God about this last week, because I didn’t know this had happened until I had gotten home, and I desperately wanted to cry out to God during worship this Sunday about this inhumanity.</p>
<blockquote><h5>These tear-gas grenades were fired at the migrants during our worship time.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>I’m thinking this while we begin to sing:</p>
<p><em>This is the air I breathe</em></p>
<p><em>This is the air I breathe</em></p>
<p><em>Your holy presence living in me</em></p>
<p>I remember how so many around the world protesting injustice are so often sprayed with tear gas. In recent years from the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong to the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, those marching in the streets cry out with their presence “How long, O Lord!”</p>
<p>Yet, so many Sundays we barely speak of these things, unless the problems are very far away. Because too often, our privileges are bought with the currency of injustice, and we would rather stay blindly comfortable than have Jesus place muddy spit on our eyes to help us see.</p>
<blockquote><h5><em>This is the air I breathe...</em></h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Or maybe we actually do see quite clearly. Maybe we avoid talking about our role in perpetuating injustice for the very reason that doing so could cost us as church staff in the offering plate. In many of our churches, we modern-day priests and Levites too often choose to cross to the other side of the road, ignoring our neighbors who have been beaten and left for dead, instead of doing what we can to help the hurting. It makes it all the more complicated that these same congregants aren’t my enemies - they are my friends. I tell myself that the church needs to stay afloat financially in order to be salt and light in the world, but perhaps trusting offerings more than Jesus means that we already have lost our saltiness.</p>
<p><em>This is my daily bread</em></p>
<p><em>This is my daily bread</em></p>
<p><em>Your very word spoken to me</em></p>
<p>The thing is, if I am totally honest, I’m scared to speak. Scared that I’ll get more angry emails from congregants accusing me of bringing politics into worship spaces where it “doesn’t belong,” taking their upper-middle-class and dual-income tithes with them. I’m scared that I’ll get talked to or even fired by those higher up from me (who also fear financially up-ending the church) who will essentially tell me to focus on serving God by singing and playing the piano, instead of speaking potentially dangerous words in to the microphone.</p>
<blockquote><h5>Perhaps trusting offerings more than Jesus means that we already have lost our saltiness.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>I want to keep my job, but I’m wondering if my financial security is the idol I worship more than God. I know the power of this false god - I lost my job during the recession, and I never want to experience that again… but perhaps I need to place my cherished idol as an offering on the altar and give my security back to God. Fortunately, the prophet Isaiah, whom Jesus quotes more often than any other prophet, didn’t weigh his message using my arithmetic. When he heard God’s voice, he spoke the words given to him. No second guessing. </p>
<p><em>And I … I'm desperate for you</em></p>
<p><em>And I… I'm lost without you, Jesus.</em></p>
<p>I feel hopeless, lost. I’m sitting in the dark, playing line after line of the worship song, a microphone six inches from my mouth, making no mention of any of these thoughts.</p>
<blockquote><h5><em>And I…I'm desperate for you...</em></h5>
</blockquote>
<p>To paraphrase Christina Cleveland, the paralysis I experience from my sense of hopelessness is itself a privilege. I feel this conflict all the time. On the one hand is my desire to beat back injustice. It is bubbling in my heart and boiling in my veins. But on the other hand, I pause, second guessing whether this is from God, and then the moment passes. It is as if I’m simultaneously flooring the gas pedal of conviction while pressing down the brake-pedal of my fear, revving my engine but going nowhere. Because I said nothing, I am behaving like the priest and Levite, crossing to the other side of the road on my way to the next song in the worship set.</p>
<p>Jesus, I need you to come into my world and save me from myself. I want to be more like you, and I absolutely know that if I’m left to my own devices I will not live like you want me to live in my own power. To be more like you, I need to be filled by you, replacing <strong><em>my </em></strong>fear-filled heart with compassion and righteousness--the twin chambers of <strong><em>your</em></strong> heart. Light our dark world, Jesus, and show us the way to follow you one step at a time. </p>
<p><em>I'm lost without you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm desperate for you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm desperate for you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm lost without you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm lost without you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm lost without you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm lost without you</em></p>
<p><em>I'm desperate for you…Jesus</em></p>
<p><em>[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Ufyx8i35-A0?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Dolo Iglesias</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>]</em></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/immigration" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Immigration</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/refugees" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Refugees</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/categories/already-and-not-yet" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Already and Not Yet</a></div></div></div>Fri, 14 Dec 2018 08:00:00 +0000drowaan954 at http://dojustice.crcna.orgNanette: Devastating and Prophetichttp://dojustice.crcna.org/article/nanette-devastating-and-prophetic
<div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="textformatter-list"><a href="/author/jonathan-nicolai-dekoning" class="node node-615 node-bio node-reference">Jonathan Nicolai-deKoning</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>I don’t often have enough time to watch a full-length movie or comedy special. By the time evening rolls around and the kids are in bed, the house is relatively (emphasis on relatively) tidy, garden tasks are completed, and my partner and I are sitting together on the couch, I usually have just enough energy to read a few pages of a novel before my eyelids droop. As many friends remind us, my partner and I are in that season when ‘the days are long and the years are short’. These days, the days feel particularly long.</p>
<blockquote><h5>We were surprised to find ourselves with a free evening and the energy to enjoy a film together.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>But on a rainy night a few weeks ago, we were surprised to find ourselves with a free evening and the energy to enjoy a film together. We had both heard good things about Hannah Gadsby’s <em>Nanette</em>, a new Netflix comedy special. Friends had called it both ‘challenging’ and ‘hilarious’ and ‘necessary’. Why not? We pressed play, and settled in.</p>
<p>I was not ready for what I encountered.</p>
<p>I don’t want to give too much away about Gadsby’s <em>Nanette</em>. I began watching with little sense of what was coming, and I think my experience was the better for it. <em>Nanette </em>is part comedy special, part history of how ‘women and queer people like her get treated, dismissed, and silenced’ that is ‘lacerating in its fury’, as <em>The New York Times</em> put it.</p>
<p>It is also an art history lesson, an excruciatingly honest personal history of trauma, and a devastating critique of the systems of power and privilege that condone violence and silence voices from the margins. <em>Wired </em>magazine put it well in its headline: ‘We Need to Talk About <em>Nanette</em>’.</p>
<blockquote><h5>I was not ready for what I encountered.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Another comedian, Tig Notaro, said “<em>Nanette </em>should be required viewing if you’re a human being.”</p>
<p>I won’t say too much about the content of <em>Nanette</em>. Other writers have done that well enough – like <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/hannah-gadsby-nanette-discussion/">here</a>, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-comedian-forcing-stand-up-to-confront-the-metoo-era">here</a>, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/arts/hannah-gadsby-comedy-nanette.html">here</a>. I want to write about why I needed <em>Nanette</em>.</p>
<p>Early in the special, Gadsby outlines comedy 101: comedy rests on building tension and providing resolution. But Gadsby refuses to offer resolution to the tension she builds. As she says, ‘I have built a career out of self-deprecating humor, and I don’t want to do that anymore. Because do you understand what self-deprecation means when it comes from somebody who already exists in the margins? It’s not humility. It’s humiliation.”</p>
<blockquote><h5><strong>'I have built a career out of self-deprecating humor, and I don’t want to do that anymore</strong>.' </h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Gadsby refuses humiliation, and instead chooses the path of prophetic furor and vulnerable truth-telling. It reminded me of the honest furor and artful truth-telling that we find in the prophet Hosea or Ezekiel. I needed that furor and truth-telling, though I didn’t realize it when I pressed ‘Play’ on my laptop. I thought I wanted an evening of thoughtful comedy and cultural critique. What I got was a punch to the stomach. A soul-affirming punch to the stomach. But a punch to the stomach nonetheless.</p>
<p>Gadsby dismantles the systems of privilege and power that push some voices to the side and condone – knowingly or not – violence against those who are already vulnerable. But she does it so honestly, so personally, that I had to fight the urge to look away at times. I didn’t ‘learn’ about the plight of queer folks, I felt their experiences in my gut. I didn’t ‘learn’ about what it was like to grow up gay in a community that resented my existence or a woman in a room full of men, I felt it. Gadsby forces the viewer to feel difficult things, to inhabit difficult stories, so deeply and powerfully that it can feel like too much to take in. I found myself watching through tears more than once.</p>
<blockquote><h5>Gadsby forces the viewer to inhabit difficult stories.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Some of those tears were for the pain in Gadsby’s story. Some of them were for the tragedy of our world. But most of those tears were tears of anger and confusion at my own story: anger at my ignorance of the extent of others’ pain, and confusion about my own privilege, confusion about how I can go about repenting and moving forward in a good way.</p>
<p>After <em>Nanette </em>finished, my partner and I sat in silence. After a few minutes, she wanted to talk about it. I found myself at a loss for words. I still do. All I can say is: I needed <em>Nanette</em>, for ‘out of the mouth of an Australian comedian Thou hast ordained wisdom.’</p>
<p><em>[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/NaNxtWzYzr0?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Denise Jans</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/8eQOBtgn9Qo?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>]</em></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/gender" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gender</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/categories/already-and-not-yet" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Already and Not Yet</a></div></div></div>Fri, 16 Nov 2018 08:00:00 +0000drowaan942 at http://dojustice.crcna.orgThe Story behind the Abuse Overturehttp://dojustice.crcna.org/article/story-behind-abuse-overture
<div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="textformatter-list"><a href="/author/bev-sterk" class="node node-332 node-bio node-reference">Bev Sterk</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>The letter to the attorney begins, “I am Wesley Heersink's brother, Stan... It is with frustration and disappointment that I am writing this letter to you now. The letters we have written to the church leadership go unanswered...”</p>
<p>As soon as I read that sentence, I thought: “Leadership has to respond to an overture. Write an overture.”</p>
<blockquote><h5>“Leadership has to respond to an overture. Write an overture.”</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>It was October 1, 2017, and I was sitting at my desk after the evening worship service. I had a stack of documents that Stan Heersink had emailed me the day before, along with the transcript of his brother Wesley's internal CRC judicial code hearing on March 7, 2006.</p>
<p>Perhaps you’ve heard parts of Wesley’s story before. He was <a href="https://www.thebanner.org/news/2011/01/abuse-victim-dies-leaves-legacy">abused by a cadet counsellor</a> at his CRC church in the 70s and spent many years seeking justice.</p>
<p>Wesley's situation was not the first that had come across my radar. In hindsight, I can see how my journey started over a decade before, in 2006. God had to prepare me first.</p>
<p>As I reflect on this journey, I can see how God was preparing me to run into significant resistance, like nothing I had never experienced before. He strengthened the foundation of my faith, my relationship with Him, through prayer and through an increased understanding of the Holy Spirit and His gifts.</p>
<blockquote><h5>God was preparing me to run into significant resistance.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>A key scripture passage that strengthened me was Ephesians 1:18: “Keep asking for a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know Him more.”</p>
<p>I did not realize it back then, but my understanding of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit had been weak. I started to realize how God speaks to us through Divine timing, Divine appointments, Divine “coincidences”, and even our own thoughts. Always in alignment with His scriptural principles. This was a significant journey on its own.</p>
<p>In 2009-2010, another significant shift happened that I can only attribute to the Holy Spirit. I started taking an interest in the denomination, our positions, and our polity. I had some concerns and was curious where the CRC stood, particularly regarding the gifts of the Spirit. I had ZERO interest in the governance of the CRC before. Through the Network, I realized I could watch Synod online! So in 2011, I was glued to the Synod livestream. Synod stalkers and Synod junkies... I could relate! This was so outside the norm of anyone I knew in my community. Little did I know what God was preparing me for back in 2011 as I watched Synod via livestream for the first time.</p>
<blockquote><h5>I started taking an interest in the denomination, our positions, and our polity.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2012, several ungodly situations of abuse came to my attention. I was appalled, not only at the incidents themselves, but also at the response or lack thereof by the Church. I had been oblivious to what was going on.</p>
<p>As I shared stats on the porn problem, I was stunned at the minimizing, dismissive, and diverting responses I received from leadership. I wondered why I had never heard about this problem before. Why were we not talking about this horrible epidemic? How had I missed this?</p>
<p>I was grieved by what I learned over the next 5 years. I walked alongside people who had been hurt by CRC leaders. This was not the CRC that I thought we were. I was appalled at what I was learning: that we were far too often protecting the institution and the leaders at the expense of those harmed. But it isn't just the CRC; it’s systemic.</p>
<blockquote><h5>This was not the CRC that I thought we were.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>I researched and interviewed dozens of abuse survivors and people who were struggling with porn. The prevalence of this abuse of power was confirmed over and over again as I studied, pondered, and prayed. The patterns matched the experiences of friends and the stories that had been shared with me personally. It was so wrong!</p>
<p>But few leaders in the CRC were open to honestly talking about porn or abuse of power. They seemed to be taboo topics. When I did have discussions with various leaders about these concerns, the leader often tried to convince me it was not as serious as I knew it was. When leadership has been honest, they have acknowledged that these are significant systemic problems. (Read Chuck DeGroat’s <a href="https://chuckdegroat.net/2018/08/08/bill-hybels-and-the-future-of-the-church-after-churchtoo/">analysis of these systemic problems here</a>.) </p>
<p>Back to 2017. I was stuck. Many leaders were tired of hearing me beat this drum. In April of that year, I had made a comment on CRC Voices on a discussion regarding the “Billy Graham rule” after Bill O’Reilly was fired: “I could be wrong, but I think we are on the verge of an avalanche of this type of unholy behavior and cover up being exposed in various spheres....”</p>
<p>That summer I felt prompted to connect with Stan Heersink and read the documents that he shared with me.</p>
<blockquote><h5>“I do not want to do this if You are not building this house.”</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>That takes us back to October 1, 2017, the evening when I started thinking about the possibility of an overture. I prayed, “God, if this is Your idea, I want to know it is You, not me. I ask for confirmations Lord, that this is You, because I know the resistance this will encounter, and I do not want to do this if You are not building this house.”</p>
<p>God answered me, over and over again. I have never had anything confirmed this frequently or this powerfully. I have no doubt that this is the Lord, exposing and revealing how His people have been harmed by leaders who lord power over others to protect the institution and leaders at the expense of His flock, whether intentionally or unintentionally.</p>
<p>I have a long list of confirmations from the Spirit, including the original articles unveiling Harvey Weinstein’s sins on October 5, #metoo exploding on October 15 and the #churchtoo movement taking off in November. It became clear to me that the overture was one part of a far greater movement that is exposing systemic abuse of power in an unprecedented way. </p>
<blockquote><h5>Thankfully, the result was much-needed discussion in the CRC regarding abuse of power.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Thankfully, the result at the council, classis, and Synod levels was much-needed discussion in the CRC regarding abuse of power, with delegates on the floor of Synod speaking powerfully to encourage Synod to take this opportunity to do more. My hope and prayer is that the favorable response will grow and be much more than just words. I believe that is already happening to some extent.</p>
<p>Abuses of power are a topic that many would rather not talk or think about. But they have been covered up and silenced for far too long. And for the 1 in 3 victims out there, it is encouraging to hear that this is finally being brought into the open.</p>
<blockquote><h5>Abuses of power are a topic that many would rather not talk or think about.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Church, it is time to talk openly and honestly about these abuses to help bring healing, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the many wounded souls that have been hurt by the Church. Repentance is a key part of this process, to apologize to people such as Wesley's family and others that have experienced an unbiblical response from leadership when they reported what happened to them.</p>
<p><em>The CRC's Safe Church Ministry is gathering stories of abuse and sharing them anonymously to help break the silence around abuse. <a href="https://network.crcna.org/safe-church/sos-sharing-our-stories">You can read the stories or participate here</a>. </em></p>
<p><em>[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/6_I6NIKRCy4?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Dev</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/search/photos/abuse?utm_source=unsplash&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>]</em></p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/gender" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gender</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/canada" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Canada</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/categories/already-and-not-yet" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Already and Not Yet</a></div></div></div>Mon, 17 Sep 2018 07:00:00 +0000drowaan910 at http://dojustice.crcna.orgSeptember 11—A Reflectionhttp://dojustice.crcna.org/article/september-11%E2%80%94-reflection
<div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="textformatter-list"><a href="/author/jj-tenclay" class="node node-417 node-bio node-reference">JJ TenClay</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p><em>For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:</em></p>
<p><em>a time to be born, and a time to die;<br />
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;<br />
a time to kill, and a time to heal;<br />
a time to break down, and a time to build up;<br />
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;<br />
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;<br />
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;<br />
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;<br />
a time to seek, and a time to lose;<br />
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;<br />
a time to tear, and a time to sew;<br />
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;<br />
a time to love, and a time to hate;<br />
a time for war, and a time for peace.</em></p>
<p><strong>Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)</strong></p>
<p>September 11. A date that now lives in infamy in the United States (and worldwide) due to the 2001 terror attacks that killed almost 3,000 people at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.</p>
<p>Many Americans who were alive that day can still tell you where they were when the first tower was hit…when the second tower was hit. Over the next few days, weeks, months I remember pondering the Bible passage above, because our world seemed to be a cacophony of ALL of the seasons mentioned in the passage happening at one time, all vying for our attention.</p>
<blockquote><h5>Our world seemed to be a cacophony of ALL of the seasons mentioned in the passage happening at one time.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>How do you honor the lives lost and honor the joy of welcoming a newborn baby into the world at the same time? Was <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/david-letterman-show-9-11-terrorist-attack-article-1.2222504">one week</a> really enough time for late night comedy shows to go off the air, or was it cathartic to allow laughter back into our lives during a season of mourning? What was this “<a href="https://www.globalpolicy.org/war-on-terrorism.html">War on Terror</a>” going to look like, and could a new war against an ideology—as opposed to past wars that were fought against countries or groups—bring about peace? Do we rebuild the World Trade Center, do we create a 9/11 Memorial, or would it be acceptable to do both?</p>
<p>As time has marched on—as with all major historical moments—people’s views on September 11 and how it impacts their lives today have changed. Some see 9/11 as a distant memory, while others feel like it occurred yesterday. For some, the wounds inflicted by 9/11 have healed; for others the wounds will never heal, and indeed, some continue to have new wounds inflicted upon them 17 years later, as they succumb to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/911-anniversary-health-effects-2016-9">long list of illnesses</a> due to their exposure to the events of that day.</p>
<blockquote><h5>My view of September 11 began expanding in new ways four years ago.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>My view of September 11 began expanding in new ways four years ago. In 2014 I moved to Italy as a missionary for the Reformed Church in America, where I worked primarily with migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from Africa and the Middle East.</p>
<p>As I began listening to the stories of our brothers and sisters from various countries in Africa and the Middle East, I was reminded that they too are victims of terrorism. They, too, woke up one day and saw their lives shatter as beloved buildings in their communities tumbled, and as they watched friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members die at the hands of terrorists. They bear the physical, emotional, and spiritual scars of terrorism, and many of them will never be able to return home. They fled to neighboring countries where they were not welcomed. They traveled through many dangerous countries and across the Mediterranean Sea until they finally reached Italy.</p>
<blockquote><h5>I was reminded that they too are victims of terrorism.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>Many have been accused of being terrorists themselves, an accusation that causes additional pain to those already traumatized by terrorism. During my time in Italy, I still remembered the price the United States paid for terrorism on September 11, but I added a time of prayer for those who are victims of terrorism worldwide.</p>
<p>In 2016, I had the honor of welcoming Adel, a Syrian refugee, and his family to Italy through a refugee resettlement program. At the beginning of the program we decided it was fundamental to celebrate birthdays for every participant of this program, to add moments of joy in the midst of much pain and suffering, and in thanksgiving that they had survived the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/world/middleeast/isis-syria-war.html">war in Syria</a>.</p>
<blockquote><h5>I realized that Adel’s birthday is September 11.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>As I compiled a list of birthdates for the participants and began writing them down in my calendar I realized that Adel’s birthday is September 11. September 11 had once again taken on a new significance in my life, and as I remembered the events that took place on 9/11 in the United States and as I prayed for victims of terrorism worldwide, I also began celebrating the birthday of Adel.</p>
<p>In July 2018 my family completed our time of service in Italy and moved to a beautiful community on Long Island (New York) named Manhasset. Manhasset is a community that was deeply impacted by the events of September 11, 2001. As the author of <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2002/feb/16/news/mn-28376">this Los Angeles Times article</a> writes:</p>
<blockquote><p>For generations, this small town 17 miles east of Manhattan has straddled two identities. Simple country village, enclave of vast wealth. A cross between "Our Town" and Fat City. Even before F. Scott Fitzgerald romanticized Manhasset and used it as the setting for much of "The Great Gatsby," the town had a reputation as one of those lovely places where the American dream rings true, and often comes true.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now, Manhasset has a different reputation. Like nearby Garden City and Belle Harbor, Manhasset will always be known as one of those tiny dots on the map that took a disproportionate hit Sept. 11.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Elsewhere in the country, people may be moving forward, gingerly trying to get back to normal. Here, where the loss was so focused, the grief is fading more slowly. In this 350-year-old community, discovered by Dutch cow farmers just before Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity, residents find themselves, in Fitzgerald's words, "borne back ceaselessly into the past."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This year, on September 11, I will privately reflect on the events of September 11 and attend a candlelight memorial service with others from this beautiful community of Manhasset. I will pray for those who are victims of terrorism worldwide, and add additional prayers specifically for the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/07/03/islamist-terrorist-groups-are-turning-their-attention-to-west-africa/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.f60309819584">growing terrorist insurgence in West Africa</a>—I left part of my heart with the many West Africans I met in Italy.</p>
<blockquote><h5>I will again thank God for that he and his family were able to flee Syria safely.</h5>
</blockquote>
<p>I will also send a birthday greeting to Adel via Whatsapp since I will not be able to celebrate with him in person, and I will again thank God for that he and his family were able to flee Syria safely.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/middle-east" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Middle East</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/refugees" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Refugees</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/topic/peace-war" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Peace &amp; War</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-category field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Category:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/categories/already-and-not-yet" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Already and Not Yet</a></div></div></div>Mon, 10 Sep 2018 23:06:22 +0000drowaan914 at http://dojustice.crcna.org